


Elide's Journey

by My_Love_Forever



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-27
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-29 12:34:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6374953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Love_Forever/pseuds/My_Love_Forever
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elide travels North, searching for Celaena Sardothien and stumbles onto her queen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elide's Journey

Elide decided to first find Celaena Sardorthien before she started to look for Aelin. She didn't really want to think of what she would do if she found Aelin first and she forbade her to find Celaena. Aelin was always hot tempered and Elide was afraid of what she would be like now, if she felt that Elide was not completely loyal to her or, heaven forbid, that she would be enraged that Elide didn't try to find her before now.  
Elide pushed North, the stone in her shoe reminding her of her mission with every step. She also had plenty of time to consider everything she had been through. Sadly, she never came up with a answer, to any of her questions.  
She took a circuitious route North, trying to stop everywhere and to ask after Celaena and to listen if there was any word of Aelin but she didn't want to ask.  
It was another rainy night and Elide was cold and tired and, in a hidden part of her mind that she didn't want to think about, starting to wonder if North was the way she had to go to find Celaena. Perhaps she was in Adarlan again or still, now that Prince Dorien had taken over the kingdom with the assistance of Aelin before Aelin had started North. She finally saw some lights ahead, reflected in the rain drops.   
She finally entered the rowdy tavern, everybody was here as there was not much else to do on a rainy night. Taverns, she had learned, were the best place to go if she didn't want to be remembered. As long as she didn't draw attention to herself and paid, nobody paid her any mind. The only problem was that she was looking for somebody and so she had to ask questions and everybody remembered that.  
"I'm looking for Celaena Sardorthien," she announced to the room at large as she let the door slam behind her. "Does anybody know of her?"  
The room paused at once and looked around before looking to her. Several people pulled back from the lights and disappeared into the shadows. Elide knew from many of these experiences that they would be heading for the back doors and out into the night. The men who had enemies always ran when they heard her name. Apparently, she had made quite a name for herself in the world, this Celaena Sardorthien.  
"I haven't used that name in awhile, now."   
The voice came from the she-warrior in the back. Her lithe body was wrapped in a black cloak identical to those of her companions, hoods up. Both men were extremely broad and exuded danger, though the one next to her sat with a stillness that was more dangerous than the other's watchful gaze. She was the most dangerous, she seemed to pull the darkness towards her as if she had walked through hell and it had deemed her unfit for the taking. Also adding to her danger was the snowcat that leaned against her side opposite the man beside her. The warrior's hand rested on its head, fingers stroking its ear while the great head rested on her lap.  
The masses in the room were carefully avoiding the group in the back corner and now, a Elide had gathered their attention, the people moved to clear a path between them so as not to get caught in the middle.  
Without turning her head, the woman spoke. "Come here, witchling."  
The people pressed further into the shadows; just what they needed, a witch to add to the mass of danger in the corner.  
Elide drew herself up in indignation. "I beg your pardon!"  
The woman waved a lazy hand. "Granted. Come here, Elide."  
Elide's shoulders dropped back and her neck straightened as the fear stiffened her spin. As a general rule, if the people who you were looking for knew who you were, it was not a good sign. She forced herself to walk to their table.  
"Sit," the woman allowed. "I know that your legs must be weary."  
Elide sat carefully, trying to avoid all sudden movements; she was very much aware that he could be in great danger. "You are Celaena Sardorthien?" she asked quietly.  
The woman still hadn't turned her head towards her. "I went by that name for several years."  
"Did you know someone by the name of Kaltain?"  
The men turned their gazes on the woman who stiffened slightly. "I did."  
"What did you promise her?"  
The dark hood turned so that Elide could see into the darkness, though could not make out a face. "To punish them all."  
"I have a message to you from her. To repay you for a warm cloak in a cold dungeon."  
Elide could feel the sharp eyes study her. "Alright," she said finally."What is it?"  
"I bear a key for all the world," Elide said and then stopped as all of the beings at the table froze, for Elide was not certain that they were human, and even the snowcat peeled back her lips and hissed as the fur rose on her back.   
The woman exchanged glances with her companions. "Is that the message?"  
"In part," Elide confessed. "She gave me the key and told me to find you."  
"You have it on you, now?" The question came from the man beside the warrior.   
Elide just gave a slight nod, not wanting anybody to overhear.   
"Well met," she woman pushed back slightly from the table and slid a few coins to slid across the wood. "Well met indeed. I was unsure if you were alive after all these years. I am glad that you are. Come, we must leave."  
Everybody left the table with the snowcat plodding along behind and Elide slowly followed. She had been hoping to rest for a bit before she had to move on and try to find Aelin,  
Outside, at the edge of the village, stood four horses. "Elide, take Lysandra's," the woman swung onto her own horse and the men followed suit. The cat hissed at the woman and started off. "Oh, don't act put out!" the woman called after. "Its not like you actually ride the horse!" She turned her head back to Elide. "Well, get on. We haven't got all night."  
"Oh, I canno-" Elide started.  
"Nonsense," the woman snapped. "I know you can ride. Its not something you forget and I seem to recall you riding quite well. Besides, you can't keep up on that ankle."  
Elide awkwardly settled on the horse, wondering how the woman knew all about her.

They rode nearly silently for two days. The pace never seemed to bother the others but Elide found herself sleeping on the horse as time went on. One late afternoon they stopped and lowered themselves from the horses. Elide could hardly stand and nearly collapsed on the nearest log. The smaller man pulled a bedroll from her horse and spread it.   
"Sleep here," he told her. "Somebody will always be here but the rest of us will be hunting unless Lysandra has already caught dinner."  
"Speaking of which," the woman whistled and the snowcat entered the clearing. "This is Lysandra. She's a shapeshifter."  
The cat turned into a beautiful woman. "Hello,"she purred. "I heard some deer off in the woods a ways. Perhaps you'd like to fly there, kill one, and I'll pick it up?" she asked the bigger man.  
There was a flash of light and a hawk flapped of into the woods.  
"Buzzard!" the cloaked woman yelled after. the bird flipped its tail and disappeared. Shortly afterward, Lysandra went into the woods. Awhile later, both the hawk and snowcat returned. Lysandra dragged a deer. They cooked and ate in silence, Elide completely missing when the fire started as she had kept falling asleep, and ate in silence before Elide collapsed into sleep.

"She was a slave," she heard the unnamed woman say.  
"How could you tell?"  
"The way she walked. It took me straight back to Endovier, even before I smelled her, I knew she was a slave. She walks as one would with shackles on one's feet. She acts like a slave too, quiet, unobtrusive, but she notices everything."  
"Well, that's one thing Endovier didn't teach you."  
"The only thing Endovier taught me was that I was stronger than I believed I was and I learned how to kill with a pickax."  
"You should never have had to go through that."  
"I also shouldn't be skulking through the woods, trying to piece together a court."  
"Speaking of which," the other man put in. "Are you going to tell her?"  
There was a pause. "Yes," the unnamed woman said. "I was going to when she woke."  
"And the stone?"  
"What the hell am I going to do with it? I can't combine them or put them back, even if we did find the gate."  
"I wouldn't be too sure, I don't think anybody tried."  
"You don't think Brannon tried?"  
"Can't say. I never met him."  
"Wow. Something you don't know."  
Elide, even mostly asleep, could feel the glare that followed.  
"Where do we go from here?" Lysandra asked.  
Elide passed back into sleep.

When Elide awoke, it was morning. She yawned and rolled over and blinked. Sitting across the smouldering fire, sat the unnamed woman with her hood up. The men sat on either side of her and the snowcat lay on her back at their feet. All of them looked bored. The smaller man played with a paw of the cat and the other two sharpened sharp blades.  
"Good, you're up," the woman ran her finger along her blade and slipped it into her boot. "You must be hungry. There is food at the edge of the fire and we can have proper introductions."  
Elide glanced at the fire as the cat righted herself. The flames were dancing around the meat. As Elide watched, the flames pulled back and began to dance on the other edge of the wood. Elide slowly reached for the meat and removed it from the fire.  
"You already seem to know my name," she said after she had had a couple bites.  
"Yes, but you don't know us, other than Lysandra," the woman nudged the smaller man and he removed his hood. Elide suppressed a gasp, the ashryver eyes danced in his face. "This is Aedion, you remember him," she turned to the man on her other side who also removed his hood. "This is my mate, Rowan. He is also blood-bonded to me," she paused and gauged Elide's reaction before pushing her own hood back. This time Elide couldn't keep back her gasp. "I am Aelin, queen of Terrasen, and this is my court."  
Elide reached into her boot and pulled forth the sliver of blackness. "Here, my queen."  
Aelin reached her hand out and took the stone. Avoiding touching it, she rubbed the bit of her cloak and handed it all to Rowan who slid the bundle into his tunic. "Thank you. You don't have to call me 'my queen' goodness knows that I wouldn't know who you were talking about and mu 'court' doesn't hesitate to call me out on some of my stupider ventures."  
Rowan leaned forward. "Will you join us? Will you help us right the world? Will you help our queen claim her kingdom?"  
"Hey!" Aelin protested. "Let's not forget Nehmia's kingdom since I promised to save that one too."  
Elide let her gaze flit across each face. "Yes. I'm nothing special but I will do everything in my power."  
"That's all we're asking," Aedion stated.  
"And you are something special," Aelin put in. "I don't want to hear the slave talking, alright? I want to hear Marion's daughter."  
"What makes you think I was a slave?"  
"You walk like you're shackled. I know what the walk is like. It took me awhile to stop doing it too. Luckily, I am prone to prowling so it didn't take as long as it could have," she pushed back her sleeves to reveal the scars circling her wrists. "You learn to work with the shackles just as you will learn to work without them," she shoved her sleeves back. "Eventually, all that is left are the scars and, in my case, the nightmares," she pushed up and walked around to the horses, the fire leaping up at her as she brushed past it. The fire wrapped itself around her arm and flared before sinking in.  
"Help us right thee world so nobody needs to feel shackles anymore," Rowan told Elide as he moved past her.  
"You will ride, Elide," Aelin called. "Lysandra can turn into a horse if she feels the need to have one."  
Lysandra muttered under her breath as she stood. "Come on,we have a world to save."


End file.
